Friday, November 28, 2014

Of Fort Langley, Family and Remembrance

We arrived in Fort Langley, BC on Wednesday afternoon. This is the small, quaint village in the midst of Fraser Valley urban sprawl where our daughter, Hannah, lives with her husband and gorgeous two-year-old, Hazel.

We used to live near here for about a year and a half in 1991-1992 when I was practicing law in downtown Vancouver. We had moved out to Langley to try to find a more affordable place to live with our little family of two children while I finished articling with a downtown law firm and got started in my legal career. Before arriving at Hannah's, I had driven by our old house to show Mark and Nathan.

It was while we were living at this house that Hannah was conceived. Though we moved back to North Vancouver before she was born, Hannah was blessed in an LDS chapel a few miles from here, just down the street from where the LDS temple now stands. Now she lives here. Life is funny.

Holly tree at the edge of Fort Langley Cemetery.

I've always had a thing about cemeteries.

Nathan and Hazel immediately hit it off with one another.

War memorial, still decorated from the recent Remembrance Day. Nathan found a discarded poppy and put it in his lapel. It brought back memories of when I used to work in downtown Vancouver. As Remembrance Day approached, veterans' organizations would sell artificial poppies for people to wear on their lapel or dress or whatever. These little poppies were a quiet, dignified way people could express their appreciation and remembrance for those had sacrificed.

Fort Langley Community Hall

We browsed through shops. I resisted purchasing a Christmas ornament because we are going to the Vancouver Christmas Market on Saturday night. :))

Hazel with her two soothers ;).

Our beautiful daughter, Hannah.

Waiting for lunch to arrive

My incredibly gorgeous husband.

Our amazing son, Nathan.

We are heading into Vancouver today (Friday). It is going to be interesting as I continue to see and share with Mark. Where I attended law school. Where I/we lived here. Where I worked. Where I road the bus to work every day. Where we took the children for walks or to play. Where my children's grandparents are buried. Where so many, many memories lay scattered about, waiting to be gathered and made whole.

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About My Blog

Uomo Nuovo ("new man") is a blog I have kept about my life after coming out - well into mid-life - of the closet, marriage and Mormonism. Since the spring of 2012, I have written about my life with my late husband, Mark, about my ongoing journey after his death, and about fatherhood, being gay, spirituality, travel, and cycling.